Confessions of a former neo-Confederate

I came across this excellent article and just had to share it. William Black is a Ph.D. candidate at Rice University. In this article he recounts his intellectual growth from a neconfederate to someone who actually knows history. His article shows that even someone with neoconfederate beliefs can change if they just have the intellectual curiosity, integrity, and ability to learn.

Predictably, many permanent neoconfederates are upset because the truth of their stupidity hurts. Some of these idiots even think the article is about modern politics. That’s because these morons have no clue. They think mention of Hillary Clinton’s repeating of a lost cause falsehood regarding Reconstruction is an example of modern politics. People with functioning brains, though, understand it’s an example of the pervasiveness of lost cause nonsense without regard to ideology.

Share this:

Like this:

Related

3 comments

I am going to give this another shot at participating in a discussion, as my last attempt apparently upset enough people to lock the thread — such power 🙂

This is an important story about a man who was fortunate enough to continue to evolve as he matured. He realized something at a young age, that many never realize in a lifetime (also my personal mantra):

Attempting to learn whilst bearing armour of pre-conceived notions is a confluence of incongruities.
​
He was introspective enough to realize that the beliefs he had held dear were in direct conflict with the facts as presented regarding the Civil War. He had to make a decision, and he made it. I found it to be a beautifully written article that must have been both difficult to write, and difficult to live through. I admire the man for having the courage to question his beliefs and reveal his internal struggle to a world that would sometimes take unkindly to his decisions.

It is also a story of how we learn: We continually cast off old ideas and replace them anew — much like a snake sheds his skin and replaces it as he grows. Should we fail to evolve, intellectually, than we become constrained and eventually imprisoned by our inability to accept facts, especially when they invalidate all that we thought we knew.